


Midnight Roses

by Cheshire_Cat2244



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: And something bad happened the last time he loved a boy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bluepulse is the best ship in the show fight me, Coughing, Dorks in Love, Hanahaki Disease, He's just not used to it being so accepted, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I wrote this instead of studying, I'm running out of tags..., Internalized Homophobia, Jaime why are you so blind?, Let's pretend the disease isn't affected by speedster healing, Like he doesn't have anything against gay people, M/M, Reach Apocalypse, So he's ashamed, Vomiting, but not really?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 09:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16472843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheshire_Cat2244/pseuds/Cheshire_Cat2244
Summary: Bart Allen is in love with Jaime Reyes. It's a love he's kept hidden from everyone, too ashamed of himself to admit it and also too scared of being rejected.But when this powerful love results in the growth of flowers in his lungs; what will he do?Why, not tell anyone of course!





	1. Diagnosis

**Author's Note:**

> Ok this was the most random thing I thought of whilst procrastinating from studying and it was only supposed to be short eheh... But 4000 words later here we are with this pile of angst!
> 
> So uh, enjoy?

It was the most unexpected thing. 

Bart Allen, Impulse had just returned back the Garrick's house from an evening spent “chill-ayin'” with his best friend Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle when he felt a tickle in his throat. 

Dismissing it as having accidentally inhaled sand (again), he went upstairs to his room after grabbing a bag of chicken whizzies and changed into his pyjamas. 

Another tickle, this time turning into a small cough.

The teen cleared his throat and grabbed a hair brush.

Hey don't judge! One of the cons of being a speedster with an open top mask is the _crazy_ knots you get from the wind.

He raked the brush through his auburn hair and grimaced as the bristles tugged painfully as his roots before zipping to the bathroom to brush his teeth, deciding to save his snack for the next day. 

Upon returning, Bart got into bed, ready to call it a night since he had to be at base early the next day.

He thought about Jaime.

He does that a lot, thinking about him.

In the future, Bart wasn't allowed to act on his feelings because it was frowned upon to like the same sex simply because it wasn't good for creating more workers for the Reach if you get his drift.

He'd been caught once, kissing another boy. They were blasted apart by some kind of weird alien gun and he'd never seen the other boy, Billy again. 

There were rumours that you got sent to a special camp where they did something to you to make you attracted to the opposite sex. Bart often wondered if that's where Billy went and why he wasn't sent there.

Whilst also being his first kiss, Billy was Bart’s first friend. They had promised each other they would stick together and always have each other's backs.

But that obviously didn't work out…

Bart didn't want to act on his feelings anymore; so he kept quiet, swearing to hide that part of him.

So when he came to the past (or the present now he guessed), he was stunned to learn that being gay as well as other sexualities were accepted by majority of people.

Yet despite knowing this, he still couldn't bring himself to tell anyone he liked boys, meaning he suffered silence.

Still, just because he wouldn't tell anyone didn't mean he couldn't feel.

Which brings him back to Jaime. 

When Bart met Jaime, he wasn't anything like the huge, bulky and frankly terrifying Blue Beetle that haunted his dreams; he was innocent, kind and caring, only wanting to help people.

Plus he was also gorgeous! Tanned skin, raven hair and warm chocolate eyes.

They became friends quickly even if Jaime always seemed tired of him. It didn't matter though, he knew he didn't mean anything by it.

He liked it when Jaime would get frustrated and mutter in Spanish because they if you asked him, Jaime Reyes speaking Spanish was pretty hot.

And when he would laugh at Bart's _awful_ attempts at Spanish and give him this endearing smile, well his heart just about melted.

But the one thing he noticed the most about the Blue Beetle of this time was that he was just so… human.

Contrary to popular belief, Bart knew he was falling for him. Fast and hard.

Honestly? It scared him. 

However regardless of the warm fuzzy feeling in his gut he got whenever he thought about him, he couldn't the small ache that was also present. 

The ache that forever reminded him he could never have what his heart desired, that he didn't even have a chance as Jaime was straight with a religious family, that he would always be alone.

He would think about this some nights, the spark would disappear from his bright green eyes and he would sometimes cry in shame and self-pity.

Tonight was like that.

Bart forced himself to keep it together, rolling over and clutching one of his pillows to his chest, hugging it like a koala would to a tree.

He huffed, coughing. 

Huh, there was that tickle again. 

Screwing his eyes shut, he willed sleep to take him away, doing his best to ignore that persistent tickle. 

Just when he thought he was finally drifting off, his body lurched forward in a violent cough.

The boy brought a hand up to his mouth, trying to he quiet so as not to wake up the Garricks.

 _Must be getting a cold or something._ He thought. _So not crash._

He got comfy again, flexing his hand before once again shutting his eyes…

Only to open them again because there was something wet on his hand?

Turning the lamp next to his bed on, he squinted at the sudden light, blinking to adjust. 

When he did, his eyes widened in horror as he gasped.

There, sticking to his hand like a ribbon, was dark, crimson blood.

He ran to the bathroom again, phasing through the walls to be quiet.

Looking in the mirror, he saw that his teeth were lightly stained with flecks of blood which he quickly spat out, rinsing his mouth with water and cleaning his hand.

Bart watched as it washed down the sink, heart racing with fear because coughing blood was way worse than a cold.

Just as he was debating what to do, the coughing started again. 

The auburn haired boy fell to the floor, holding his head over the toilet bowl as he hacked up more blood into it.

But it wasn't just blood, he could feel something rising from his throat, something big.

Sure enough, a few moments later, something dislodged itself from his throat and flew into the toilet. 

It swirled around the water, mixing with the blood until he could get a good look.

It… it looked like a flower petal.

It had dark blue edges and was black months inside. 

Bart definitely didn't remember inhaling in any flowers.

He used his speed to grab his phone from his room, pulling up the internet to look up the type of flower. 

After a brief minute of searching, he found it. A midnight rose.

It was breathtakingly beautiful but certainly didn't belong inside him.

The boy took a deep breath, wincing at his sore throat before searching for what happened to him.

He was sat there for an hour, delving into various medical sites before he discovered what it was.

_Hanahaki disease: contracted from unrequited love, flowers begin to grow in the lungs, causing the infected to cough up blood and petals until that progresses into entire flowers, signalling the final stages._

_The infected person has three options:_

_1\. The one whom they love must return their feelings._

_2\. Surgery can remove the flowers from the patient's lungs, also removing their feelings for the one they love._

_3\. Succumb to the disease, resulting in a slow and painful death._

_Other notes: the flowers are usually coloured or related to the one the infected loves._

_The roots will grow, piercing the lungs as the flowers grows up the oesophagus until the infected dies._

_If the victim has the surgery, there is a chance they will never be able to love again or they might lose their memories of the one they loved._

Bart stared at the screen, repeatedly going over the information.

He knew it was true.

The flower was black and blue just like Blue Beetle’s armour, it had to be the disease.

Which meant he had to consider the options.

The disease could kill him in a matter of months so he didn't have a lot of time.

Option one was out of the question, Jaime would never love him the way he wanted- no, needed him to.

The second option seemed the most obvious yet the side effects troubled him.

He could lose his memories of Jaime. 

He couldn't take that chance! If he forgot about Jaime, he would be back to drowning in memories of the Blue Beetle from his time and to tell the truth, Bart would rather die.

But it seemed as if that's what would actually happen. 

Running his hands over his face, he shuddered, deciding that for now he would keep it a secret.


	2. Will Love Be the Death of Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Impulse has to run off in the middle of a mission debrief and is totally smitten at Blue Beetle's concern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this is kinda short but it was originally supposed to be longer, I just split it because the next bit is from Jaime's point of view so I wanted that as it's own little thing...

For the first few weeks he was able to hide it fairly well, but now three months into his self-diagnosis, the petals were becoming more frequent and harder to hide.

Now for example, the team had just gotten back from a mission and were hanging out at base when he felt the tell tale tickle which signalled his cue to run to the nearest toilet and vomit flower petals.

Except Nightwing was in the middle of a mission debrief and he couldn't leave.

Physically, he knew he looked bad.

His eyes were sunken from lack of sleep and had dark circles under them, his skin was pale and sickly looking and his posture was slumped.

But inside he felt much worse.

His throat was raw from repeated coughing and vomiting, his lungs ached and he could feel the flowers growing inside his chest.

“-Impulse? Impulse!” The voice snapped him from his thoughts and he shook his head, uttering an apology.

“Uh, sorry. What?”

Nightwing narrowed his eyes, examining the boy before he softened. “Are you alright?”

Bart smiled weakly. “Course I am! Just haven't been getting enough sleep lately, s'all. Listen can I, uh, use the bathroom please?” It wasn't a total lie…

The team leader nodded before continuing. 

He sneaked a quick glance at Jaime who was looking at him with concern etched into his features before speeding off to the toilet.

He collapsed over the bowl again, puking up that nasty conception of blood and petals.

Tears leaked from his eyes as his chest heaved in agony.

He cried out as the petals continued to come, dropping into the toilet dripping with blood.

It took a full five minutes before the attack stopped and he could breathe again.

But even that hurt.

He spat out the excess bloody saliva and with a sigh, Bart shakily stood up and flushed the toilet before washing his face, washing the evidence away.

He was chewing his lip, trying not to cry when a knock at the door startled him.

“Bart? Hermano are you ok?”

“Yeah I'm crash!” He shouted back, cringing at his raspy sounding voice.

There was a pause before Jaime responded. “Are you sure? You don't sound ok.”

Bart’s heart fluttered at Jaime being worried about him, it was sweet how he cared.

But Jaime was probably the last person that could know about his disease, which meant he had to lie.

“I'm fine _her-man-o._ ” 

The silence that passed meant Jaime didn't believe him, but thankfully decided to drop the subject.

“Ok well if you need anything, you know you can talk to me right?”

Tears welled up in his eyes again, this amazing human being whom he loved so much was here trying to help. He would be the death of him.

Literally.

Bart closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before answering, “I know.”

He listened as the footsteps echoed away from the door before he quietly slipped out, speeding to the zeta tube and back to the Garricks’ house before passing out in his bed.


	3. Jaime's Worry Knows No Bounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we see Jaime trying to find out what's wrong with his best friend whilst also doing a bit of reflection on himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaime's POV.

Bart and Jaime were laughing, enjoying each other's company as the movie they were watching came to an end.

They were sat on his couch in El Paso, a little too close to be ‘normal’ but Jaime didn't mind, Bart had always been super clingy but not in a bad way.

The time travelling teen was leaning into his side a little, looking sleepy yet content.

Any other time he probably would have poked fun at his best friend a little but said friend had seemed super down lately, and very tired.

It bothered him seeing Bart this way. He was usually so energetic and happy it was hard to keep up with him. 

He glanced down at the newest member of the Flash family and smiled softly, he had fallen asleep. 

Reaching for the other boy’s phone, he sent a quick text to the Garricks asking if it was ok for Bart to stay the night and letting them know who it was.

Upon receiving confirmation, he picked up his remarkably light friend and carried him up to his room, gently placing him onto his bed.

He was cute there, Jaime thought. Bart was the kind of person who could brighten a room even if he also annoyed everyone in it.

You could count on him to cheer you up and if Jaime was honest, his eyes were mesmerising.

He didn't really think about his sexuality much he didn't deny that he cared about Bart, he just wasn't sure in what way he cared yet.

It was moments like this that left him questioning himself.

But even so, Bart didn't seem interested in anyone anyway.

The next morning he woke up to a note from Bart explaining he had to run (pun totally intended) but that they could hang later in the afternoon.

                               ***

When that time arrived, Jaime had decided he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on.

“So are we going to talk about it?” Jaime asked, throwing a pebble at their makeshift target.

“Talk about what?” His companion asked, fiddling with his goggles.

“What's going on with you.” The hero answered, plainly. 

“There's nothing going on.” Bart brushed up, talking a little to quickly.

Jaime stopped throwing stones to turn and look at him properly. “Bart, you're a terrible liar.”

The speedster looked up at him nervously, biting his lower lip.

“I'm worried about you, ese. You look enfermos.”

Bart blinked at him, foot rapidly tapping at super speed in anxiety. “I'm not sick.”

“Then what's wrong?”

“Nothi-”

“Bart talk to me! Please!” He grabbed the shorter boy's wrist and pleaded. 

God it was crazy how ill he looked. It was like a walking corpse. He wondered if anyone else had noticed.

“I'm fine, Jaime. I'm just tired. I'll talk to you later.” And with that he was gone.

Bart started avoiding him after that.


	4. Mission Mayhem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart has a coughing attack during a mission and is saved by majorly unimpressed Jaime Reyes.

The next time it happened was in the middle of a mission.

The Flash was off on a space mission with the Justice League which meant it was up to the team to take down his Rogues trying to rob a bank.

It should have been easy, only Bart had a coughing fit in the middle of the fight and had to stop running.

He bent over as he felt the petals forcing themselves up this throat and into his cupped hands and was frantically shoving them back into his mouth and painfully swallowing them down when he heard someone scream his codename.

Suddenly that someone crashed into him, sending them both flying across the bank and onto the floor just as a blast of ice from Captain Cold's freeze gun.

He groaned and looked up, blushing as his green eyes met Blue Beetle’s red ones, inches from his face.

The armoured hero was lying on top of him, looking down in anger and traces of fear, though it was hard to tell sometimes with the Scarab's mask on.

“Impulse are you crazy? You could have been seriously hurt! Dios que estabas pensando? Estoy realmente preocupado por ti-”

“Blue? You're-” he chuckled, “-talking Spanish again.”

“Because I'm mad, ese!” 

The goofy grin fell off Bart's face as she looked down in shame. “I'm sorry. That's totally moded of me.”

Before he could answer, Jaime was interrupted by Batgirl.

“Hey!” She yelled, back flipping out of the way of Heatwave's flamethrower. “If you two have finished your love fest there are bad guys to take down!”

Blue Beetle grumbled and got off Impulse, extending a hand to pull him to his feet.

Bart's heart did a small somersault at the contact as he stood, swaying on his feet.

_Oh no._ That dreaded feeling was back!

“Igottagobye!” He blurted before speeding off to throw up.


	5. Flowers Are Supposed To Mean Love, Not Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The disease is in its final stage now, and Bart has less time that he thinks he does.

Bart was terrified. 

It had been nearly six months since he contracted the hanahaki disease and as he lay in the bathroom, moth covered in his own spit and blood, the toilet scarlet and blue, he could feel the roots pushing against the flesh of his lungs.

He had gone from coughing up petals to fully bloomed roses and it was clear that the disease was in its final stages.

Bartholomew Henry Allen II had maybe a few days left to live. A week at the most.

He was too stubborn to tell anyone or to get the surgery. He couldn't give up Jaime knowing he was the best thing to have happened to him.

It was almost funny. 

He used to think he would die from a blast by the future Blue Beetle’s gun.

When he came back he thought it would be by doing something heroic in battle.

He never would have guessed it would be a disease from unrequited love. From his best friend.

No, he couldn't blame Jaime. It wasn't his fault, there was no one to blame other than himself.

Everything hurt; he could barely breathe, even simple things such as eating and drinking felt like his throat was being torn open.

He looked at his communicator, an emergency message from the team requesting back up.

***

Bart couldn't tell you how he made it through that fight; he really couldn't; but by the time it was over, he really wanted to go and lay down.

Still, he dragged himself along with the rest of team to the Watchtower for Nightwing’s debrief. 

When that was finished, he was about ready to go home but was held back by one seriously ticked off Jaime Reyes. 

Bart gulped, “Hey, _her-man-o!_ ” He tried, faking a smile.

“Dude, seriously what is your problem?”

His face morphed into confusion, “What?” he stuttered.

“You've been avoiding me, you're never around and when you are, you're just ditching us in the middle of missions! So I'll ask again, what's your problem?”

“I'm cr-”

“Don't lie to me! You owe us all an explanation.”

Bart was getting overwhelmed, his eyesight was getting blurry, from stress or tears he didn't know, but the roots were beginning to pierce his lungs and the flower’s growth was complete. 

_No! Not now! Please not now! Not in front of everyone!_ He mentally screamed, body feeling weak. 

The anger from Jaime’s face had switched to concern and distress. 

The taller boy was saying something, but Bart couldn't hear it, his face was wet, he was hot and in pain and wanted to get away.

He stumbled back, trying to turn away but his speed wasn't working and he tumbled to his hands and knees, blood and roses spewing out of his mouth in full on vomiting as he was launched into the worst coughing fit of his life.

He briefly registered someone yelling for help and arms around him, stopping him from face planting his own puke holding him up.

The dying boy struggled for air in between coughing because it just wouldn't stop. 

Salty tears soaked his face as his body convulsed, wracking with sobs.

His chest felt like it was going to explode, the contents of his lungs seemingly endless in quantity.

Whoever was holding him moved around to the side of him, keeping him up by the shoulders. 

“Bart? Bart please!” The flicker of blue and black into a mint green hoodie and white shirt appeared in his vision. "What's happening to you?"

_Jaime._ His mind supplied.

Cool hands on his cheeks forced him to awkwardly look up at his best friend whilst flowers spilled out of his mouth.

“Please if you can hear me, I love you! I love you ok? I love you so much, Bart please don't die on me!” There were tears trickling down that perfect face, fear and sadness and love in those dark chocolate eyes.

And suddenly the pressure inside his lungs lessened, the stem of the flower crawling up his throat stopping and he could sort of breathe again.

He blinked, trying to stop the tears from gliding his vision. “You love me?” He managed, words garbled and barely intelligible but somehow the Hispanic boy understood because he nodded quickly, resting their foreheads together.

The other superheroes, upon seeing the immediate danger had passed, silently dispersed to give the pair some privacy. 

For the first time in weeks, Bart's spirits lifted.

He let out a sob of relief and joy, feeling the flower in his lung withering.

He turned his head to the side to cough up the dead plant, feeling his lungs, though still painful, clear again.

“I love you too.” He whispered, voice nearly destroyed.

Jaime stood, slowly helping the other teen to his feet and letting him lean heavily on him.

They surveyed the mess in front of them.

The floor looked like someone had emptied a bucket of red paint mixed with roses onto the floor. It was a worrying amount of blood and Bart sensed Jaime thinking this as he started slowly walking him to the medical bay.

Upon arriving, he was helped into a bed and passed out.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

Bart awoke to the sound of voices whispering and he looked around, remembering what happened and seeing himself hooked on to various machines and bags of fluid.

Slumped in a chair next to him, was a sleeping Jaime Reyes.

Bart nudged him slightly, smiling as he jostled awake.

The dark haired boy stretched and remembered where he was. 

“Bart! You're awake!” 

He chuckled, grimacing at his saw throat. “Yeah.” His voice was little more than a hoarse croak but Jaime got the message.

The hushed voices stopped, noticing him and hurried over.

When they got close he saw that it was grandfather and Nightwing.

“Hey-” he tried, before being shushed by Barry.

“You've sure got a lot of explaining to do, Bart. Just… not right now ok? You need to rest.”

Nightwing nodded, “You're lucky to have survived. Hanahaki disease at that stage is usually fatal. If it wasn't for your speedster healing, you wouldn't be alive right now.” 

Bart looked down and nodded, the familiar feeling of shame he'd been harbouring these past months reading it's ugly head again.

“We're just glad you're ok,” Barry smiled, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder for a moment before leaving the room with Nightwing who mentioned to Jaime to go home and sleep. 

The latter turned to him, unsure of whether to leave or not.

Bart nodded, he was tired himself and wasn't exactly going to be anywhere by the time he got back.

“I'll be back tomorrow, ok, hermano?” He promised, the scarab’s armour encasing him into Blue Beetle. 

Bart would have answered, really he would have, but he'd already fallen asleep.

***

The next time he woke up, it was noon-ish and boy was he hungry!

Thankfully it seemed Jaime had him covered as there was a trayful of Big Belly Burger and a bag of chicken whizzies next to his bed.

“Hey,” The tanned boy greeted, smiling softly.

“Hi.” His voice was much better today, speedster healing having been working away overnight.

“I brought you breakfast,” he gently placed the tray on Bart's lap, the smile still on his face.

The speedster grinned and hastily dug in, “You're so crash, ese!” 

The pair glowed, pink lightly dusting their cheeks before the silence was broken again.

“How are you feeling?” 

Part of Bart wanted to use the knee-jerk response of ‘I'm fine’ and dismiss the problem but he knew he couldn't do that, not anymore. “Physically or emotionally?” 

“Both.”

“Ok well physically I'm feeling a lot less moded than yesterday which is good but emotionally I'm embarrassed, ashamed and angry with myself.”

The light mood left room and was replaced with a sad one.

At that particular moment, the Flash and Nightwing chose to walk in, sit around him and wait expectantly for an explanation. 

In his peripheral vision he could see the inner turmoil on Jamie's face, as if debating on whether or not to continue.

It seemed as if this time, he chose the latter and spoke the one question Bart had hoped he wouldn't.

_“Why didn't you tell us?”_

Bart put his burger down and shut his eyes, not wanting to make eye contact. “I couldn't.”

“That's not an answer…”

“Well it's the best I have! I get it, ok? You're disappointed in me, everyone’s disappointed in me, heck I'M disappointed in me, but I can't give you a reasonable answer because I don't have one.” The outburst just sort of happened, it was impulsive but, well he wasn't called ‘Impulse’ for no reason.

Jaime looked taken aback for a moment and opened his mouth to speak before being interrupted by Barry.

“Look, I know this hasn't been easy for you but I'm gonna need a little more than that.” His voice was gentle, blue eyes sparkling with care and worry.

Bart took a deep breath before he tried again. “I'm guessing you did your research? On the disease?”

A quick not from Nightwing prompted him to go on. 

“Then you know I had three options.” Another nod. “I-I didn't think the first option was possible so I looked into the second one.”

He looked at everyone's faces, mixes of pain, pity and confusion. “The side effects were either never being able to love again or forgetting the one you love.” He looked down at his food again, “I couldn't do it.”

“There was only a chance those would happen, Bart.” Nightwing defended. 

“Well it was a risk I wasn't willing to take. I know I haven't been exactly talkative about the types of people I like or what it's like in the future…” He shuddered. “But nothing gave me more hope than knowing that Blue Beetle, the most evil monster I had ever met was once this selfless, heroic, amazing boy. When I saw that, I knew that anyone can be saved from the path of evil with the right guidance.” 

The boy glanced at Jaime, who had gone red and shy before carrying on. “And meeting you has been the best thing that's ever happened to me,” He felt his eyes getting glassy, making him quickly wipe them, “and I couldn't ever let that go.”

Everyone had smiles on their face, whether they were embarrassed, fond or nervous, it was beautiful.

“That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell anyone.” Nightwing reminded.

“Because you'd make me get the surgery!” Bart exclaimed, waving his arms around.

“We would've found another way. We’re the world's greatest minds, we could have found something.”

That… was a very good point.

“I'm sorry.” He bowed his head, face burning with shame. “I was just scared. The last time I fell in love we were nearly killed for it and I never saw him again. I guess dying seemed better than losing you.” His eyes met Jaime's again, heart beating speedily (pun _so_ intended.)

His grandfather cleared his throat before standing awkwardly.

“We'll leave you kids to it then.” Before speeding out, Nightwing shaking his head and turning,

“Glad you're ok, Bart.” and leaving.

“So,” The remaining speedster drawled.

“So,” The teenage boy sat in the plastic chair copied.

“I didn't know you were into duded.” He blurted out, slapping a hand over his face and mentally berating himself because _what was that?_

“I didn't know _you_ were into dudes.” 

“I don't think anyone did. I wasn't exactly open about it after what happened to Billy…”

“Was that his name? The boy you loved?”

“Yeah. I hope he's safe now, what with the Reach Apocalypse never happening and all.”

Jaime hummed before speaking, “Well I never really thought about what I liked until I met you.”

“Really?” There was that spark of hope again, that dangerous spark of hope.

The other boy smiled again, leaning on the bed in front of him. “Totally. You're cute.”

Bart laughed, relishing in the moment. 

“I'm sorry I didn't realise it sooner.”

“Realise what?”

“My feelings. If I had then maybe I could have helped.”

“Don't blame yourself, amigo. I brought what happened yesterday on myself.” Bart admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You really scared me then, hermano. I've never seen anything like it! The blood and the- the flowers! And you couldn't breathe. You were literally dying in my arms and if I hadn't told you I love you, you would have! And what if you were at home? Or literally anywhere else? I wouldn't have been there and someone would have found your body and I'd-” 

Bart brought his hand up to cup Jamie's cheek, gently caressing it for a moment before sliding it around the back of his head to rest as the nape of his neck. “But you did, and I'm here now and I'm so sorry I put you through that.”

Jaime placed his hand on the other’s elbow as their faces got closer.

They were so close they could feel each other's breath ghosting across their faces. 

Two sets of eyes; green and brown; flicked down to their lips before they finally closed the gap between them.

The kiss was everything Bart dreamed it would be, but so much more!

They moved in sync with each other, Bart’s free hand meeting his other around Jaime’s neck and the latter wrapping both arms around his probably-boyfriend's(?) waist.

When they pulled apart for air, Jaime couldn't help but ask, 

“Hey, did you mean what you said earlier? About me being the best thing to happen to you?”

Bart licked his lips, grinning. “Every crashing word!”

Their lips met again and something else bloomed in both of their hearts: love.


End file.
